BY KYLE LOVERN
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN
SETH, W.Va. — The Tug Valley Lady Panthers lost a heart-breaker to the Sherman Tide 10-9 in the Class A, Region 4, Section 1 softball tournament on the road in Boone County.
Tug Valley finished the season with a fine 20-11 overall record. They were 2-2 in the sectionals, losing two games to Sherman.
Tug trailed 10-4 going into the last inning and was down to its last strike, but rallied for five runs to almost take the lead.
The Lady Panthers, coached by Rocky Hall, led 10-4 in the top of the seventh inning with the bases loaded and Bailee Hall coming up to the plate. She had already hit two homers in the game. However, the Sherman coach intentionally walked Hall with the bases loaded to force in a run. That made it 10-5.
Then Tug’s Paisley Bolyard stepped up and smacked a three-run double and scored on the overthrow to cut the lead to 10-9.
But the Tide was able to get the final out.
This was the second time Hall had been intentionally walked with the bases loaded in the last few games.
Bailee Hall, a junior, hit two more home runs, giving her 14 on the season, which is the best in the state of West Virginia. Her sister Autumn Hall, who was a standout at Tug Valley, is currently playing college softball at W. Va. State University.
Makenna Osborne had two hits for Tug Valley including a double. Zoey Hensley also had a pair of hits for TVHS, while Katie Hall and Aleksah Osborne also had hits. Bailee Hall and Bolyard each had four RBIs.
Bailee Hall was the losing pitcher in the circle for the Lady Panthers. Emma Lackey came on in relief. Lackey recorded eight strikeouts.
“I feel like we had a good season. Of course, we are disappointed that we came up short. I don’t think anyone really expected us to win 20 games again and be in the sectional championship again. Regardless, when you get that close, it is really hard to accept a loss,” Coach Hall said.
Looking ahead, Hall expressed optimism about the team’s future.
“We have some really good young talent and they got a lot of experience this year. They were exposed to just about any game situation one can think of. Hopefully that will provide a knowledge base for their future games and also some motivation to work on their game in the offseason. The team didn’t like the way they felt after the game, and I told them that they could be a really good team next year if they work from May to March.”
Reflecting on the season’s end, Hall also took time to acknowledge his senior leadership.
“We will miss our senior Makenna Osborne. She stepped up and did a great job for us this year. Her hitting and defense will be hard to replace,” he said.
Despite her departure, Hall is confident in the team’s foundation.
“We have been starting a bunch of freshmen on this team along with several sophomores and two juniors,” he said. “We have a great core coming back.”
The winning hurler for the Tide was Ava Russell. She gave up nine walks and had two strikeouts.
The leading hitter for Sherman was Carter Plantz with two hits, one being a double. Makayla Harless, Summer Harvey, Savanah Drake and Kiera Stewart had hits with Stewart’s being a triple. Harless and Plantz each had two RBIs.